# 蛍

| 蛍 | U+86CD, &#34509; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-86CD |
| ← 蛌 [U+86CC] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 蛎 → [U+86CE] |

## Translingual

| Traditional | 螢 |
| Shinjitai | 蛍 |
| Simplified | 萤 |

### Han character

蛍 (Kangxi radical 142, 虫+5, 11 strokes, cangjie input 火月中一戈 (FBLMI), composition ⿱𰃮虫)

#### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 1081, character 11
* Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 32983
* Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): not present, would follow volume 4, page 2845, character 4
* Unihan data for U+86CD

## Chinese

* For pronunciation and definitions of 蛍 – see 螢 (“firefly”). (This character is a variant form of 螢).

## Japanese

| Shinjitai | 蛍 |
| Kyūjitai | 螢 |

### Glyph origin

Japanese shinjitai character. Simplified from 螢 (𤇾 → 𰃮).

### Kanji

(Jōyō kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 螢)

#### Readings

* Go-on: ぎょう (gyō)
* Kan-on: けい (kei, Jōyō)
* Kun: ほたる (hotaru, 蛍, Jōyō)

#### Compounds

* 蛍(けい)火(か) (keika)
* 蛍(けい)光(こう) (keikō, “fluorescence”)
* 蛍(けい)光(こう)灯(とう) (keikōtō, “fluorescent lamp”)
* 蛍(けい)光(こう)染(せん)料(りょう) (keikō senryō, “fluorescent dye”)
* 蛍(けい)雪(せつ) (keisetsu)
* 蛍(けい)窓(そう) (keisō)

### Etymology 1

* Kanji in this term
* 蛍
* ほたる Grade: S
* kun'yomi
* Alternative spelling
* 螢 (kyūjitai)
From Old Japanese. Appears in the Man'yōshú, compiled some time after 759 CE. Ultimate derivation unknown.
* The initial ho element is almost certainly the ancient form of 火 (hi, “fire”), which appears as ho in compounds such as 炎 (honō, “flame”, originally from ho no ho) or 火屋 (hoya, “lamp chimney”).
* Various theories exist regarding the taru portion. This may be from classical verb 垂る (taru, “to hang down, to droop”, in reference to a firefly's posterior; modern form 垂れる (tareru)), or a vowel shift from verb 照る (teru, “to shine”).

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) ほたる [hóꜜtàrù] (Atamadaka – [1])
* IPA: [ho̞ta̠ɾɯ̟]

#### Noun

蛍(ほたる) or 蛍(ホタル) • (hotaru)
* a firefly
    火(ほ)垂(た)るの墓(はか)
       Hotaru no Haka
       Grave of the Fireflies
** 1991 July 15, Mitsuru Adachi, “魔(ま)法(ほう)の粉(こな)の巻(まき) [Magical Powder]”, in [虹色とうがらし](ＮＩＪＩ－ＩＲＯ　ＴＯＨＧＡＲＡＳＨＩ) [Rainbow-Colored Peppers], volume 4 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 30:
    しってるか、ホタルってのは虫(むし)だぞ。
       Shitteru ka, hotaru tte no wa mushi da zo.
       Did you not know fireflies were insects too?

##### Derived terms

* 蛍藺(ほたるい) (hotarui)
* 蛍(ほたる)烏賊(いか) (hotaruika)
* 蛍(ほたる)石(いし) (hotaruishi, “fluorite”)
* 蛍(ほたる)蛾(が) (hotaruga)
* 蛍(ほたる)貝(がい) (hotarugai)
* 蛍(ほたる)籠(かご) (hotarukago)
* 蛍(ほたる)葛(かずら) (hotarukazura)
* 蛍(ほたる)合(がっ)戦(せん) (hotaru gassen)
* 蛍(ほたる)狩(が)り (hotarugari)
* 蛍(ほたる)草(ぐさ) (hotarugusa)
* 蛍(ほたる)柴(さい)胡(こ) (hotarusaiko)
* 蛍(ほたる)雑(じゃ)魚(こ) (hotarujako)
* 蛍(ほたる)スイッチ (hotaru suitchi)
* 蛍(ほたる)草(そう) (hotarusō)
* 蛍(ほたる)族(ぞく) (hotaruzoku)
* 蛍(ほたる)手(で) (hotarude)
* 蛍撫子(ほたるなでしこ) (hotarunadeshiko)
* 蛍(ほたる)火(び) (hotarubi)
* 蛍(ほたる)袋(ぶくろ) (hotarubukuro)
* 蛍(ほたる)船(ぶね) (hotarubune)
* 海蛍(うみほたる) (umihotaru)

#### Proper noun

蛍(ほたる) • (Hotaru)
* a female given name

### Etymology 2

* Kanji in this term
* 蛍
* けい Grade: S
* kan'on
* Alternative spelling
* 螢 (kyūjitai)
From Middle Chinese 螢 (MC hweng, “firefly”).

#### Affix

蛍(けい) • (kei)
* used in various compounds to refer to fluorescence

#### Proper noun

蛍(けい) • (Kei)
* a female given name

### References

* ↑ c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 13, poem 3344:, text here
* ↑ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2011), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

## Korean
### Hanja

蛍 • (hyeong) (hangeul 형, revised hyeong, McCune–Reischauer hyŏng, Yale hyeng)
* This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

## Old Japanese
### Noun

蛍 (POTARU) (kana ほたる)
* firefly